


Snowflakes Like Stars In the Sky

by Natsumiya_Teirin



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Everyone Loves Natsume Takashi, Gen, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Natsume Takashi Protection Squad, Natsume Takashi's Terrible Childhood, Original Character(s), Youkai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:35:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27826141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natsumiya_Teirin/pseuds/Natsumiya_Teirin
Summary: He is seven years old when he meets a yuki-onna.She is warmer to him than any other humans have been.Circumstances may change, but one way or another, Natsume Takashi finds warmth where he expects none.
Relationships: Madara "Nyanko-sensei" & Natsume Takashi, Natsume Takashi & Youkai
Comments: 11
Kudos: 116





	1. Winter Winds

The city is not terribly large, but it's also not so small that Yukionna can't live comfortably in the winter. She is snow and winter given form, ancient and pale and cold, and she has lived in the cliffs and currents at the fringes of this town since it was little more than a hamlet. 

At the northern tip of Japan, where snow is at least more common than in, say, Tokyo, she lives in the frosted coves and beaches lining Noshappu, hiding in the frozen caves in the spring and coming out in the fall. 

And when she comes out, she takes a few days to reacquaint herself with the town, to see how much has changed and how much has stayed the same. 

And that is how she meets him- the boy with silvery hair and pale eyes, who looks like he could be _hers._

He stands alone as the snow falls, his only source of warmth a thin, patchwork coat that might even be worse than nothing, and he shivers silently with a blank expression in the yard of a modest house. 

Yukionna sees him and she clicks her tongue. 

"Good kids should be inside about now," she remarks, knowing there's no way the kid will hear her, let alone-

"But they locked me out because I'm bad." 

They boy turns his head just enough to indicate that he sees her, and his snow-like eyes lock onto her pale face. 

"They told me to stay until the yukionna eats me," he says. Yukionna scoffs and moves closer to the snowflake child, ignoring the way his body twitches. 

"Ridiculous," she says. She scoffs again. 

"I am not so baseless as to eat _children._ Only wayward travelers- the ones who deserve it," she tacks on, her stomach lurching as the snowdrop boy visibly flinches. "And you, little snowflake child, are definitely not a traveler." 

The boy frowns and looks down at his feet, and Yukionna realizes he's only wearing a pair of old house slippers. 

"But I _am_ bad- all the grown-ups say so." He insists, and he sounds so small, like a tiny snowflake in a swirling blizzard. 

Yukionna tilts her head, strands of her snowy hair hanging down from her shoulder. 

"Ridiculous. Why on earth do you think that of yourself, snowflake child?"

He hugs the threadbare coat tighter to himself, and for a moment, there is only the gentle sound of a light breeze, steadily growing stronger as Yukionna appraises the boy and sees new reasons to hate his supposed guardians. 

"I see things," he says at length, a tremor in his voice. "I see things and people that no one else can see, but they don't believe me, they never do," he spills it out now, the words tumbling from his mouth like snow off a branch. "And they say I'm a liar and a creep and a f-freak-" 

He trembles, hugging himself tighter as the wind grows stronger and the coat whips around his legs. 

Yukionna has to force herself to calm down- freezing a neglected child to death is definitely not on her list of priorities. 

"N-no one ever w-wants me. Ev-v-ven my p-p-parents..."

"I want you," she says, the words coming out before she can stop them. 

The boy looks at her with a hopeful sparkle in his eyes and a disappointed frown on his face. Years of unintentional masks have made Yukionna perceptive, and she reads him easily. 

"I'm not joking," she says, keeping her voice level and forcing the winds to silence. 

"A human child like you, a human child who can see and converse with youkai, is a valuable asset to exorcist clans," she states, and the boy's mouth twitches. 

"Humans should revere you as they might have centuries before, but instead you are shunned for your spiritual ability," she says, kneeling down. She takes one of his frozen-pink hands, stares at the snow clinging to his eyelashes and wills it away. 

"But you shine warmly, brightly, more beautiful than my snowflakes, even in the face of such coldness. I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your voice," she continues, interlacing her pale fingers with his flushed, stiff ones. 

"I'm sure your light will flicker if things are left as they are, and...it's sad, being alone." 

He inhales shakily and Yukionna gives him a slight smile. 

"Would you like to stay with me, little snowflake?" 

The snow stops falling, but the overcast sky is still blindingly white. 

"Really..?" he asks, soft and small and timid, like a tiny forest creature. "Do you really want someone like me? Even though I'm human and you're...?" 

Yukionna nods softly. 

"Yes. It is only natural for my kind to seek human companionship, and I want you, little snowflake child." 

The boy crosses the short distance between them, one hand still so very cold in her own as he squeezes his fingers, as his other hand finds a fold in her kimono and grasps onto it. His lips are blue and his cheeks flushed, but he looks so very hopeful. 

Without thinking about it, Yukionna leans forward just a little bit and presses a chaste kiss to the boy's forehead. A pale snowflake presses against the skin as her face retreats, and the boy looks at her in awe as color slowly redistributes itself along his body and his blood flow resumes its natural course. 

He moves his arm to wrap it around her side while the other hand remains safely ensconced in her own, and he buries his face in her shoulder. 

"Please...let me stay....let me stay at your side..!" 

Yukionna smiles her usual tiny smile and rubs his back. 

"Yes, my snowflake child. Yes."

* * *

On a cold day in late October, Natsume Takashi disappears without a trace.


	2. Ice

Yukionna asks for the cold winter wind to carry her and her snowflake child back to her favorite cave, and it listens. The boy startles at first, tightly gripping the folds of her kimono as they rise in the frigid wind. Yukionna retains her smile and adjusts her grip, relinquishing the boy's hand so she can hold him close to her chest. 

He makes a strange sound, something like a yelp but not quite, and Yukionna feels a tiny spark of warm fondness. 

The journey isn't very long, and very soon Yukionna is carrying her snowflake boy into her cave. 

It is large and well-hidden behind a cliffside and a rocky slope, but not so deep that light can't enter it. 

And in the fall, when it's plenty cold enough for the water dripping from the walls to freeze and become thin strands of ice, and when the early twilight shines in and reflects and refracts against the ice, it's even brighter. 

She is sure her snowflake child will like it now that he no longer has to worry about freezing, and when he gasps softly and turns his head this way and that to get a better look, she preens and sets him down. 

He looks like someone in the thrall of a dream, expecting to wake up but so desperate to cling to it.

At the entrance of her cave, like a silent marble sentry, she watches him quietly explore her- no, _their-_ cave, watches as his face lights up and his tiny, bony fingers trace over the ice- over her ice- in awed reverance.

And then, very abruptly, the silence is cut by a loud gurgling sound. 

Her snowflake boy looks mortified as he clutches his stomach, as if that would change anything. 

"S-sorry..." he squeaks, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment and his mouth curved in an apologetic sort of expression, and Yukionna wonders with no small amount of vengeful hatred what kinds of people her boy stayed with, to make him think something as natural as hunger is something to be ashamed of. 

"It's only natural," Yukionna says simply. "Humans are not youkai, so even if my kiss keeps you safe from the cold, it will not stave off hunger." 

She turns her back to him and speaks over her shoulder. 

"Stay here, little snowflake. I will catch fish and return swiftly."


	3. Frost

Yukionna stands on the shore outside the cave, while her boy watches from within. There are other youkai within the oceans, and she has no desire to mess with them now- she knows humans do not live long with hunger, but she doesn't know just _how long_ and, moreover, she doesn't know how long her snowflake boy has already gone hungry, if his former caretakers had already gone so far as to leave him out and hope for him to be eaten. 

That particular thought reignites her rage, and she channels it into the sea, freezing the waves and foam and all the fish therein. In the early twilight, under the soft glow of the peach-colored clouds, the sloping peaks and sharp ridges of ice shine like a surreal castle of glass. Yukionna takes a moment to admire her work before dismissing the ice entirely, the sudden temperature flux killing the fish as they are tossed onto the shore. 

She looks back to her charge, smiles softly at his awed expression, and then lets her eyes roam over his tiny form. 

She turns back to the fish, already forming a sort of ice-bowl in the wet sand to gather all of them. 

Her rage was great and it spread quite far. There is a lot of fish as a result. 

She wonders if her tiny snowflake child will be able to eat it all.

* * *

Yukionna carries the large bowl of flash-frozen fish into their cave and her boy backs away against the far wall to give her room. She sets the bowl down onto the hardened sandy floor and steps away from it. 

She looks at her boy appraisingly and a distant memory surfaces, of a pair of travelers and a warm fire and the scent of cooked meat. 

"Snowflake....do you perhaps know how to start a fire?" 

He nods with a sound of assent. 

"But why..?" He asks, tilting his head. 

Indeed, why start a fire in a cave with a yukionna, Yukionna wonders, amused. 

"Humans like you will get sick if they eat raw meat, right?" 

He nods again, a shy smile on his face as he looks down at his ratty slippers. 

"In that case...um....I need...dry wood and grass...and flint, or maybe a match would be better..." 

Yukionna nods softly and glides along the cold ground over to a tiny alcove- to her stash of human money she'd taken from the corpses of her victims. 

She selects a leather pouch- a dusty-blue thing she'd liked enough to steal- and deposits a handful of various coins into it. 

She turns back to her boy. His threadbare, patchwork clothes make her uneasy. 

"There are no trees nearby, and the bushes will be wet with snow. I will have to purchase the materials myself." 

And perhaps, while she was at it, she'd get some new, better clothes for her snowflake child.


	4. Playing The Role Of Ubume

With a soft request for her boy to stay inside the cave, Yukionna takes her purse and makes her way out to the coastside general store. She arrives just after the sun finishes its descent below the horizon. 

The shopkeeper is a woman she remembers from last year, though she is not round with pregnancy as she was then. 

Yukionna enters the store and wills herself to remain visible to her, nodding her head at the woman's cheery welcome. She approaches the counter and the woman looks at her oddly- perhaps because of her abnormal apparel, Yukionna thinks- as she unceremoniously empties her purse onto the counter. 

"I need wood, and winter clothing fit for a young boy about this size." She indicates height with her hand. 

The woman plasters a smile onto her face but makes no move to take the money. 

"Of course, miss! We still have plenty of wood in the back, and kids' clothes are over that way," she says, pointing. Yukionna nods slightly. 

"And don't worry about the money," she continues, nudging the pile of assorted coins back towards her. "We gotta help each other out in winter, so it's on the house! Just pick whatever you'd like!" 

Yukionna sweeps the coins back into her purse with a short "thank you," and makes her way to the back of the store. It is warm, but not intolerable, and there is a selection of meats and fish near the bundles of wood, so its cooler there to accommodate. 

Yukionna stands for a moment, pondering, then turns her attention to the meager rack of children's clothes in the corner. There isn't much there, and what there _is_ is meant for older children. 

Since she doesn't know exactly what her snowflake child would like, Yukionna gathers up all the clothes into her arms, then selects a random bundle of roughly ten decently sized logs and wraps it in the clothes. 

She carries it all out of the store, ignoring the puzzled expression on the shopkeeper's face- an average human would have trouble with this much on their own, and that brings another idle thought to Yukionna's mind. 

The logs might be too much for her boy to easily work with, she thinks with a downward quirk of her lips. 

Humans are not physically strong like youkai, and that especially applies to human children. 

Well, she decides, if she needs to she can get them wet and freeze the water as it seeps into the wood. If done correctly, it should break the logs into more manageable pieces. 

With a satisfied, decisive smile, Yukionna returns to the cave she shares with her human child.


	5. Spark

While he waits for his new guardian to return, Takashi explores the cave, takes in the ice shining even against the black stone walls, and the thin layer of frost shimmering and sparkling atop the packed and frozen earth. 

He knows basic stories of yukionna, of women born from snow who can stave off the cold with their kiss, who eat unlucky humans and stay with other humans who they are fond of, only to melt away in the spring and return next winter to an unfaithful partner. 

He knows the stories, and he remembers overhearing his foster family discuss with each other; the possibility of locking him outside to either be eaten by the yukionna or else frozen to death. He is seven years old- old enough to realize he is unwanted, apparently to such a degree that his foster family would actually try to indirectly murder him. 

They weren't terribly kind to begin with, though, and though Takashi knows he shouldn't have been surprised, it still hurt when he was tossed out into the backyard and very clearly and deliberately locked outside. 

Takashi shakes his head and puts a hand to his forehead where the yukionna had kissed him. He feels warm, but not like he's sick or anything. He feels warm in his chest, like his heart could suddenly burst any second. 

It's a nice feeling, he thinks as he walks along the edges of the cave. 

He stops as something pokes into his foot. Lifting it, he looks down to see something pointed and black sticking from the ground. Curious, he squats down and pulls upwards, smiling softly as he pulls up an oblong piece of flint. Or at least, he thinks it's flint. 

Experimentally, he strikes it against the wall of the cave, the way he remembers being taught by one of his previous foster fathers. Tiny sparks fly from it and fall, only to fade out before they hit the ground. 

Feeling triumphant, Takashi strikes it again, and then a third time, before deciding to stop. 

There is something ironic about this- a fire-starting tool within a yukionna's home. 

* * *

When she returns to the cave to find her snowflake fiddling with a piece of flint, Yukionna realizes she'd forgotten to grab flint herself. But it's okay, since he seems to have found some just fine. But as she looks at him, she realizes even just one log from the bundle of wood would be too big for him. 

So she enters the cave and unwraps the logs, leaving the clothes on the floor.

"I wasn't sure which clothes would best fit you, so I grabbed all of them," she explains. "You don't actually need them, but humans seem to be more concerned with modesty." And she would feel better if he was wearing better clothes than that ragged coat. 

He looks awed, as if she's giving him more than just clothes. Well, perhaps she is. 

"Thank you, yukionna-san!" He breathes. 

And while she was going to tell him to pick out the clothes he'd prefer while she cut the logs into more manageable sizes, Yukionna is suddenly struck with another realization. 

"Little snowflake, my name is indeed Yukionna, but...I don't believe I know _your_ name." 

Here the boy looks down, his name leaving his lips in a soft whisper, as if it is something the boy carries like a great and pitiable burden. 

"My name is....Natsume Takashi."


	6. Summer Snowflake

When Natsume Takashi gives his name to youkai, he can count on one of two reactions; either they'll run away, screaming in fear, or they'll try to kill him- or at least rip out his tongue. 

The yukionna- rather, Yukionna; no "the"- does neither.

She hums and closes her eyes, and when she opens them, it is to say, "I do not recall anyone by that name, so I wonder why it brings you such shame, little snowflake." 

And then she shakes her head. 

"It doesn't really matter, I suppose. It is your name, after all. And it is a fine name, although..." 

And Takashi stills, waits for the catch, but Yukionna smiles at him and says with a playful tone:

"You do not look like a summer child. You look like winter- like me."

She laughs. 

"If I am Yukionna, then perhaps that makes you Yukihana, my little snowfake." 

And just like that, the warmth that'd settled in Takashi's chest suddenly overflows, and happy tears travel steady paths down his cheeks. 

Yukionna frowns ever so slightly. 

"Snowflake? What's wrong? Why do you cry?" 

And Takashi sniffles and wipes his nose with the sleeve of that worn out coat, but there is a tentative smile on his face, and Yukionna realizes- _oh, there's_ nothing _wrong at all._

"Th-there's nothing...nothing wrong, I'm j-just, ha-happy," he says, as if he's unused to happiness, and Yukionna gives in to her impulsive desire to hug him. He tenses up, as if he's unused to this, too, and he feels so small and frail in her arms, like a literal snowflake, but he is also warm in a way she is unused to seeing from humans. 

So she hugs him and rubs circles along his shoulder blades, and eventually, he stops crying. 

He pulls out of her arms with a soft "thank you" and focuses his attention on the pile of clothes. His eyes having adjusted to the night, the moonlight reflecting off the cave walls is more than enough for him to see by, so Yukionna waits patiently for Takashi to pick out some new clothes for himself.

He settles on a green shirt with long sleeves and a pair of pants made of some dark blue fabric that's probably somewhere between cotton and wool. There aren't any shoes in the pile, so he settles on a pair of thick wool socks, dyed an earthy sort of brown color.

Yukionna exits the cave holding the bundle of wood, deciding she can cut it while Takashi changes.

She stands at the shoreline and waits for a wave to crest, then with a simple command, she freezes it into a thick sort of slab of sharpened ice. She takes a log and runs it experimentally along the sharpened edge, pleased when the ice sinks into the wood and cuts it. She repeats the motion until the logs are reduced to thin and rectangular prisms, and returns to the cave to find Takashi- she feels warm when she realizes again that wow, her snowflake child actually trusts her with his name- dressed in his new clothes, with the old ones left beside the pile of newer ones that don't fit.

Yukionna considers burning them, but decides they might be useful in the future- maybe they can be sewn into a bag or something.

She looks away and refocuses on Takashi, nodding her head in approval- he looks better now, more like a normal and well-treated child instead of the whispy little thing he was when she first saw him. 

"You look much better now," she says. He smiles shyly with a faint blush on his cheeks. 

"Thank you," he says softly.

She breezes past him and sets the wood in a far corner of the cave, and then returns to the entryway to watch from there as Takashi finally starts a fire and begins preparing to cook a fish for himself. 

He skins and guts it with practiced motions, and Yukionna wonders if- or more precisely, how often- he'd been left to fend for himself in the wilderness. The thought angers her all over again, and the wind swirls behind her. Idly, she sends a bit inwards, just enough to blow the smoke out of the cave without putting out the fire. 

Takashi skewers the fish on one of the sticks. It takes a bit more effort since the ends aren't sharpened, and it looks kind of awkward, but at least it'll cook.

He waits silently, watching the fish cook while Yukionna watches him, neither of them having any more to say. It's a comfortable sort of thing Takashi only has vague memories of. Of a foster father who taught him these kinds of skills, back before he'd learned Takashi saw things- back when he'd still thought Takashi could be his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yukihana technically means "Snow Flower", and the Japanese term for "Snowflake" is "Yuki no Hana", which also translates to "Snow Flower", but more literally, "Flower Of Snow" or even "Snowy Flower".   
> Some people, myself included, theorize that the reason manga!Natsume looks so different from anime!Natsume is because his strong spiritual power affects his appearance- youkai and exorcists and people sensitive to that sort of thing would see his hair as silver, while normal humans would see it as blond.   
> This is why he "looks like winter", but is also a "summer child". Or at least, that's what I think.


	7. Sunrise

Takashi falls asleep in Yukionna's warm embrace, warm and full for the first time in years, and he dreams of gleaming ice castles and sparkling moonlit snow, and chilling loneliness. 

He dreams of cramped supply closets and cruel laughter and locked doors, and of a cold and uncaring hand on his back, pushing him towards people who are more frigid than ice. 

He wakes up with a lonely sob trapped in his throat and gentle fingers carding through his hair. Yukionna looks down at him with a serene smile. 

"Ssh...it's alright, little snowflake. It's alright. I'm here for you." 

She hums and brushes a lock of hair from his eyes, and Takashi lets his eyes drift shut once more.

* * *

The sun rises from the east, painting the sky a rosy pink and a pale lavender, and shimmering gold against the frozen autumn sea.

Living in Nosshapu, even if it's only been a couple months, Takashi is used to this lovely sunrise, but it feels different now, watching it from the entrance of a frosted cavern beside someone who truly wants him. 

He still has trouble believing it, even though Yukionna had already done more for him than any of his previous foster families had. 

Case in point, she tightens her arm around him just a little more, pressing him against her side. 

"Isn't this lovely, snowflake? I never tire of seeing it." 

Takashi smiles as he looks onwards, at the suncrested ocean waves and the brilliant youkai birds flying over it. 

"Yeah...it is..." 

She smiles softly down at him. 

"I wonder...does it look any different in the spring and summer?" 

Takashi nods without thinking about it. 

"Yeah. In summer, there are more birds- and more people. It's not as pretty as it is now." 

His smile dims, just a little, and Yukionna idly kisses the crown of his head. 

"It seems I won't miss much then. Speaking of that, though..." 

Takashi nods, already sure of what she's going to say- he knows the stories, after all. 

"In the spring, I will melt," she says, and Takashi nods again. Snow melts, after all. "And I won't be able to care for you until the fall. I'm...sure I know the answer already, but...is there somewhere you will be safe during that time?" 

Takashi shakes his head and flinches when she frowns. Did he say something wrong?

"It's alright, Takashi," she firmly reassures him, squeezing her arm around his side. 

"It's alright. I have a friend, just a little bit further south, and he will take care of you when I cannot." 

She hugs him closer, until Takashi is almost in her lap, and ruffles his hair. 

"It should be cold enough that we can meet him before he hibernates for the winter. Would you like to meet him, snowflake?" 

Takashi isn't really sure if he would, but he realizes he'll need to meet this person eventually, come spring, so he nods shyly. 

Yukionna laughs, a light sound like a cool, refreshing breeze. 

"Very well. In a little while, we will go to a place called Yatsuhara. My friend there is named Madara." 

"Madara?" 

Takashi knows that name- it was mentioned in one of his classes, he thinks. 

Yukionna nods. 

"Yes. He is a little bit gruff, and he won't admit it, but he has a soft spot for children. He is more travelled than I, so perhaps he'll have many stories to share." 

She smoothes Takashi's hair back into place and hugs him again, and he feels that pleasant happy warmth in his chest again. 

"Perhaps," she says softly, "he might even know of your biological family." 


End file.
